through spice gardens; rambles with passionate conservationists; and a day with a rescued circus elephant.

MALABAR COAST

Designed in north Kerala, Malabar Coast finds you in the undulating hills and esoteric caves of Wayanad and the virgin beaches of Neeleshwar, helping you establish a primordial connection with this pristine untouched land. Here we lead you through rich treks; restorative beachside Yoga lessons; walks through abandoned forts and caves; front-row seat at Theyyam ritual dance; and experiential regional culinary delights.

Available hand-crafted 9-day and 8-night expeditions or custom-made journeys.

THE HIMALAYAS

Know the Himalayas. Silk Route takes you through the regional chunks of this vast and

Route brings you this intense territorial mass in a way never done before.

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DESERT WEST

Get to know the ancient villages rife with folk traditions, mud huts, and harsh Thar desert life in Barmer; know the desert mystery that next door Jaisalmer is—its fabled living citadel filled with beautiful crumbling havelis and palaces, lived in by warm hospitable rural folks. Enjoy the nostalgic something in the deserted village Kuldhara; snap up some Jaisalmer stonework in Ramkunda. Explore village of fire dancers and dairy farmers in Bikaner.

ROMANTIC SOUTH

Raw Rajput unfolds in the blood-stained ruins of Chittoor, the ghosts of valor and pride. Slow down to bed the impossibly romantic Udaipur: a cluster of toy island palaces amid

textiles, metal ware, and jewelry. The soothing pink of its architectural extravagance contrasts with the flaring colors of the local attire. Enjoy intellectual camaraderie at the Jaipur literature festival; a crafts tour to a handmade paper industry; gaze at quaint colorful frescoes in the tired havelis of Shekawati; get camel happy at Pushkar, visit the sole Brahma temple in the world; pump up with game viewing at Ranthambore Park. Stay at luxurious Amanbagh amidst the Aravalli Hills. Live life king size with a round of camel polo, Yoga lessons at abandoned forts; villages safaris and chai brewed with love and leaves.

HISTORIC BLUE

Lap up the medieval charm of forts looming over the blue cornflower-colored houses in

Bhawan Palace; shop for antiques, vintage textiles, and handicrafts. Run into the unique

Bishnois tribes in the wildlife delight of Guda; befriend this robust sect that preserves all

forest life forms and follows 29 tenets of good living; visit a local school; partake in an opium ceremony; ride indigenous Marwari steeds; indulge in contemporary Riff Music Festival patronized by Mick Jagger.

Silk Route offers Only-Rajasthan circuits along with a combination of Golden Triangle trip extensions for 9-day and 8-night itineraries.

CLASSIC INDIA

. Classic India is a climax of local moments and ancient monuments. Silk Route hosts an architectural and cultural jamboree for you here.

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DELHI+AGRA+JAIPUR

Delhi—the old, the new, the intense. Stroll through the sweet fragrance of Phool Mandi (flower market). Walk the city’s savory patch in a lattice of imperial monuments—with ancient Shajahanabad; a ubiquitous rickshaw ride in the bursting thoroughfares of Chandi Chowk; a leap in time at the Gandhi Smriti; Qawwalis by Sufi musicians at Nizamuddin (the ancient Muslim urban village). Blaze the culture trail with a visit to the Hauz Khas Designer village; and sail through quick-flourishing art in Gurgaon.

Court the flushed pink toy town of Jaipur in its bazaars and by lanes filled with gems, block print textiles, and traditional Jaipur blue pottery. Stroll the dusty pink medieval bazaars enjoying the riot of colors—bright turbans and women draped in cheerful lehengas; tour the communities of artisans. Graze the Aravalli mountains on a hot-air balloon safari. Experience some blue blood dining with the royals, lodging at remodeled palaces; and warm banter and bonhomie with locals in remote villages.

Experience quintessential Varanasi: watch the cycle of life unfolding in the sacred Ganges water; the pilgrims waist deep in water; on a private boat, witness early morning pujas. Get away from the waters to the local villages and ancient universities; wax eloquent with the silk weavers; slump into a musical reverie at a local musician’s home; take a detour to Saranath, spot of Buddha’s first sermon. Trace your fingers through the scintillating temple sculptures of myths and transgressive erotic acts at Khajuraho; listen to their stories come alive; enjoy some extraordinary game drives; and cosy up in a stone jungle lodge.

MUMBAI+AURANGABAD

Mumbai is everything for everyone. Begin this classic anomaly of slums and skyscrapers with the Gateway of India; ferry across to the Elephanta Cave stone sculptures of Hindu Gods; treasure hunt in Chor Bazaar (thieves market); and breakfast on the turf. Go where Mumbai began, its whimsical fishing villages; drift through the exploding art scene through Colaba art district; partake in Bollywood on-set production; watch the bubbling suds of the massive open air laundromat at Dhobi Ghaat. Drive 4 hours north to the wine trails of Nashik—a swig of the frontier class “drink-now” Indian wines. Stop by the World Heritage Site Ajanta and Ellora Caves in Aurangabad for spell-binding sculptures carved by Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monks.

Monday, February 27, 2012

DropCap Mediais a content development firm in Cochin, Kerala. They've done commendable value addition in print, online and social media and continue to do so.

I've composed tag lines and copies for one of their clients generating online literature for children for educational purposes. The word document of my writing is given below.

TEASER/TAG LINE + COPY

SOCOTRA TREES

Teaser: This DRAGON wears a GREEN cap!

Copy: DRAGON BLOOD is a green leaf tree living on far-away SOCOTRA island in the INDIAN OCEAN. Tell your teacher to take you there for your next picnic because these trees have a FUNNY SHAPED THICK CROWN of green leaves that gives lots of SHADE for you to play under. And tell Mama you don’t need your picnic cap!

Teaser: Why does your Papa call you DRAGON BLOOD?

Copy: Oh, my church name is DRACAENA CINNABARI and Dracaena comes from the old Greek word “Drakaina” which means female dragon!! My parents call me DRAGON BLOOD because whenever I get hurt I produce a RED SAP that looks like blood!

Teaser: Why don’t you take care and avoid getting hurt?

Copy: People hurt me for my RED SAP which is used in your MEDICINES, TOOTHPASTE, DYE, and VARNISH FOR VIOLIN. Am also used in RED INK and my brand is called DRAGON’S BLOOD INK! So I don’t mind getting hurt. I like to help!

SHADOWS

Teaser: Am your SHADOW and am always so COOL.

Copy: When the SUN is HOTTER I get COOLER!

Teaser: COOL SHADOW loves to play hide-and-seek!

Copy: Have you noticed this: When the SUN is in front of you, your SHADOW jumps BEHIND you; when the SUN is to your RIGHT, your SHADOW rushes to your LEFT. So start the game with your shadow!

FAULT LINES

Teaser: First aid for ROCKS!

Copy: There were two good ROCK friends under the EARTH’S SURFACE who always played with each other. But one day they fought and caused a FRACTURE. They were rushed to the doc and the doc called it a FAULT LINE!

Teaser: A ROCK FRACTURE is called a FAULT LINE?

Copy: Yes. FAULT LINES can be as short as some MILLIMETERS or as long as THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS!! They can be dangerous and can cause EARTHQUAKES, OMG!

Teaser: Oooooo…I want to see these lines!

Copy: Well, you can spot them in TURKEY, ANDAMANS, DEAD SEA, and ALASKA. Ask Mama to turn on Google for you!

SHIPROCK OF NEW MEXICO

Teaser: Hey! This b-i-g ROCK looks like a SHIP! Aha!

Copy: This beautiful VOLCANIC ROCK FORMATION called SHIPROCK is in NEW MEXICO. It resembles a huge 19th century CLIPPER SHIP called SHIP ROCK and stands 7,177 ft above the sea level! Mind ya!

Teaser: A good-looking rock!

Copy: SHIPROCK is beautiful. It has SIX frills from its neck (center) called DIKES which are actually WALL-LIKE SHEETS OF COLORFUL LAVA. MILLIONS OF YEARS OF EROSION has made the rock and the dikes so visible for us!

Copy: In 1980 a lot of heat melted the rocks under MOUNT ST HELENS. A big violent mass of red hot LAVA flew out of the VOLCANO at a terrific speed creating a CRATER about 1 mile (1.6 km) looking like a horse-shoe! But it killed 57 people and lots of animals L

VOLCANIC NECK

Teaser: Add the letter “G” to Mama and it becomes MAGMA, hehehe!!!!!!!!!

Copy: MAGMA is liquid rock coming out of a VOLCANO. But at times the MAGMA hardens to become a VOLCANIC LANDFORM (that looks like a very big rock) called VOLCANIC NECK!

LANDSLIDES

Teaser: Did you know that the earth or land likes to play on a slide as much as you do?

Copy: LANDSLIDE is a dirty person…and sometimes dangerous too! RAIN and SOIL EROSION are his playmates and when the game gets serious LANDSLIDE brings portions of the earth off in such a mess of pebbles, rubble, rock, and soil! Aargh…yuck!

Teaser: Have you tried a somersault on your slide?????

Copy: Don’t try it! You would be surprised to know that this dirty LANDSLIDE tried a somersault called TOPPLE. Gosh…entire huge portions of soil and rock flew out and rotated outward scaring everyone around!!!